Thanks Mal
by Chereche
Summary: Lonnie has a personal conversation with Mal, thanking her for the courage to stand up to her mother.


"Hi, Mal," Lonnie said nervously, approaching her.

Mal, one of Auradon's new heroes turned, and gave her a smile that for once Lonnie was actually quite certain was sincere. It was the first time for the night that Mal was basically alone, well as alone as she could be in a throng of teenagers.

King Ben (and wow would that take some getting used to to say) had arranged the after party pretty well. All of the adults had disappeared not too long after the sun had set, perhaps to their own extravaganzas, leaving the newly crowned king and his guests to, well, party the night away. She had been having a blast so far, but something weighed heavily on her mind despite that fact, and now that Mal was, for once, not at Ben's side or with one of her island friends, Lonnie had approached her.

"I just wanted to say thanks," Lonnie said quickly.

The smile on Mal's face curved into a slightly embarrassed grimace before she shrugged. "Someone had to stop Mother," she said in a cheerful tone that to Lonnie, sounded a bit hollow. It was the same tone she had used back in the kitchen a few weeks ago, as if she was mostly trying to convince herself of the truth of her words more than the person they were being directed against.

"That couldn't have been easy," Lonnie sympathised, "but, that's not really what I wanted to say thank you for. Not that I'm not grateful mind you. Dad showed me the footage from the security cameras. I am so glad I did not become dragon food, but that's not it."

Mal seemed confused now. "I don't understand, Lonnie," she admitted. "Is this about the hair, because trust me, don't bother to thank me."

"No," Lonnie corrected, "god this is so hard. It's just that, I wanted to thank you for giving me the courage to stand up to my mom."

Mal blinked. "But," she began, "weren't you the one talking about cookies and milk and making the sadness go away? Your mom sounds...great."

"She is great," Lonnie said quickly, "Don't...gosh. I love my mom Mal, and she loves me. It's just that, it's hard you know, being the daughter of Fa Mulan, China's revered hero. Growing up in that shadow wasn't easy. Everyone expected me to follow her, you know? My mom kind of revolutionised what it meant to be a woman in a society where our worth used to be on how the only honour we could bring to our families was through a great marriage."

"I don't follow," Mal admitted. "Things don't seem that way here."

"Wait, oh," Lonnie stated, before chuckling nervously. "I wasn't raised in Auradon, Mal," she informed her. "My dad's in charge of security here, yeah, but truly, I never came here until it was time for high school. I grew up in my parent's homeland, China. Mom and dad only decided to relocate here permanently when I decided that so that they could be near me."

"Oh," Mal said, "I did not know that."

"A lot of us aren't native to Auradon," Lonnie told her with a shrug. "I mean, a lot of us have our lesser castles or territories here, but it's not like all the rulers live here." She laughed. "Who would rule our kingdoms then? Auradon's pretty much the world's capital now, thanks to King-Father Beast, so the royals of the world do all tend to have a dwelling or two here, and some choose to live here in full until they need to return to their own lands to rule, but really, most of the royals here are like me, migrants really."

"That is news to me," Mal admitted.

"You guys still have a lot to learn," Lonnie said gently, "we all do, really."

"I don't understand why you're thanking me though. What did I do?"

"After seeing the footage, you gave me the courage to actually talk to my mother, Mal. It hasn't been easy for me. My mom's not a hypocrite. She didn't risk disgracing our entire line's name only to try to shove me into a mould, you know? She raised me to be who I wanted to be, but at times I felt like I was failing her, you know? I have the highest rank in martial arts, I'm a great swordswoman, but I don't like it. I never did, but I always went along with it, because it's what she wanted, you know? She wanted to raise me with all the opportunities she didn't have. She didn't for once want me to think that I was to be valued only for my beauty, but in doing so, I think she never realised that I liked those things. I love fashion. I love dressing up and dancing, and eating fancy creamy things and flirting with boys. I like watching boys look at me; I love that power I have over them.

"It's why I fought so hard to come to Auradon and to this school because I knew it'd be so different and I'd get to experience a whole new world. But I never had the courage to tell my mom all of this, you know? I don't think she meant to hurt me the way she did by denying me the opportunity to well...be girly...but it hurt whenever she dismissed those feminine things as being relics of a past she was trying to change, because I loved it. And seeing you stand up to your mom like that, gave me the courage to do so."

"I take it that turned out well?"

"Better than well," Lonnie gushed, reaching out to grab Mal's hand in her excitement. "Mom hugged me and said that she had never been prouder of me for standing up for myself, even if it was against her. She said that she'd support me in whatever it is I decide to do, even if that means I never do a next high jump kick again! And it's all thanks to you, Mal. And that's why I'm grateful to you. I may never have gotten the courage to talk to my mom about that if it wasn't for you, so, just, thank you so much."

Mal gave her a small smile, and Lonnie was slightly chagrined to realise that for all that she had said, it was pretty obvious that Mal didn't fully comprehend what she was saying and just how paradigm shifting it was for her.

Nevertheless, the purple haired girl nodded and said, "Well, if I helped you do that, you're welcome I guess. I'm happy for you Lonnie. Oh no," she added, looking past her. "Carlos and Jay found a next chocolate fountain!"

The girl ran off behind her, and Lonnie didn't make an attempt to stop her. She had said what she had wanted to, and felt relieved now. She looked after her, watching as Mal reached the pair, gesturing wildly at them. Lonnie snorted after a moment though, when Mal reached into the fountain as well, and just like them, allowed a handful of the liquid delight to fill her hand before pulling it to her face to taste.

King Ben would have his hands full with her, she thought with a laugh, before turning and walking away.


End file.
